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DETROIT (10/11/2014) -- Freshman Spiro Pliakos (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Rochester) scored two first-half goals and senior Matt Ybarra (Irvine, Calif. / Ann Arbor Huron) added a goal and an assist Saturday as the University of Detroit Mercy men's soccer team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Green Bay at Titan Field.
 
The Titans improved to 3-1 in the Horizon League with the victory and 6-4-2 overall. It was also Detroit's third shutout of the season and first in conference play. UDM was the first team in the league to reach three conference wins and following Saturday's matches, trails only Oakland (3-0-1 HL) in the Horizon League standings with nine points overall.
 
Detroit wasted little time gaining advantage on its home turf Saturday, as Pliakos scored his second goal of the season just 15 minutes into the contest. Pliakos gained control of the ball on the right side of the goal just outside of the box and hooked a shot past Green Bay goalkeeper Dani Alvarado and into the net.
 
Pliakos gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute as he took a pass Ybarra and again scored from the right side of the goal.
 
The Titans had an 8-3 shot advantage in the first half. Detroit also had three corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes of the game.
 
Detroit had good looks in the second half as well and scored its third goal of the game in the 66th minute. Ybarra tallied his second of the season off a feed from sophomore midfielder Aidan Kuhls (Kansas City, Mo. / Bishop Miege), as he took a pass in the box and beat Alvarado again.
 
Green Bay had some looks at goal in the second half, including knocking one off the post just after the Ybarra goal in the 67th minute. A few minutes later, the Phoenix had three consecutive shots, but UDM junior goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stevenson) came up with two saves to keep the game scoreless. Green Bay had just two shots the remainder of the contest.
 
Detroit finished with advantages in both shots (12-11) and corner kicks (5-3). Steinwascher made three saves in net for his third shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. Pliakos, Ybarra, junior defender Jason Leslie (Troy, Mich. / Troy) and junior forward Matt Harkema (Hudsonville, Mich. / Unity Christian) each had two shots apiece.
 
With the pair of goals, Pliakos has three goals on the season to tie him with Harkema for the team lead. He also now leads Detroit with 12 points through 12 games.
 
The Titans return to the road next week playing a Horizon League match at Valparaiso (6-2-3, 1-1 HL) on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 8:30 p.m.